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Carnitas, a Mexican dish where the shredded pork is cooked until slightly crispy on the edges, has to be one of my favourite Mexican meat dishes! When I came across the idea of doing a lighter version with chicken on Jeanettes Healthy Living I knew that I would have to try some chicken carnitas! I pretty much took my pork carnitas recipe and used it for these chicken carnitas and I used the slow cooker to keep things nice and easy. You pretty much just mix the orange juice based cooking liquid, throw it and the chicken in the slow cooker, shred the chicken and broil it until crispy. To help ensure that the chicken stays nice and moist the cooking liquid is mixed in with the chicken before and after it broils. Of course these chicken carnitas can be used in many things like burritos, enchiladas, taquitos, etc. and my favourite way, in simple tacos with fresh diced onions, cilantro and a hit of lime!

directions

Place the chicken in the slow cooker along with the mixture of the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and cook on low until tender, about 6-8 hours.

Shred the chicken, mix in 1/4 cup of the juices, spread it out in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil until it starts getting crispy, about 5 minutes. Mix in 1/4 cup of the juices, mix everything up and broil for another 5 minutes before mixing in another 1/4 cup of the juices.

Assemble the tacos on the tortillas with the chicken carnitas along with the onions and cilantro and serve with the lime wedges.

Made these today, they were awesome. Next time I'll double the sauce. When I shredded the chicken it just soaked it all right up. I put salsa on my first one, but not on the other. The flavour is so good, all I used was some cheese and just a little sour cream. My husband just yelled up at me while I'm writing this review " good job babe" , for the third time. Thanks Kevin, it's a keeper.

To make these ahead, I assume you can do everything up through the shredding and then crisp just before serving? I plan to freeze the leftovers uncrisped too. Made mine overnight, put unshredded chicken and sauce into the refrigerator and will shred and crisp right before dinner.

To make these ahead, I assume you can do everything up through the shredding and then crisp just before serving? I plan to freeze the leftovers uncrisped too. Made mine overnight, put unshredded chicken and sauce into the refrigerator and will shred and crisp right before dinner.

These sound great! I am confused by the instructions about the juices, though. It looks like you put all of the juice in the crockpot to cook. Do you then try to pull the liquid off before broiling the meat? The part about adding 1/4, 1/4, and 1/4 juices doesn't make sense to me if all of the liquid has cooked with the meat.

Angela: By 'juices' at the end I am referring to all of the liquid left in the crockpot after removing the chicken. When done cooking there should be plenty of liquid left in the crockpot to mix in with the shredded chicken to help keep it mice and moist.

I'm dying to try this recipe, but I don't have a slow cooker. Is there any other way of cooking the chicken and still get the same result? Thank you for an awesome and totally inspiring blog! Gabs from Sweden

Gabriella Acuña Lopez: You could do it on the stove top. Cut the chicken into 2 inch pieces, optionally brown the chicken then add all of the ingredients that went into the slow cooker, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is tender and easy to shred. Once the chicken is cooked you can continue with the recipe above. You may need to add some extra liquid to the pot, maybe 1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth or water, you want enough liquid so the chicken is just covered. If you do need to add extra liquid, simmer what is left in the pan until it reduces to 1 cup after you remove the chicken.

My husband made these tonight. Delicious! I think these are my new favorites! I'm following a pretty healthy food program and this is completely compliant if I use brown rice tortillas. I'm going to share with my friends on the program. The broiling is the key. Loved it!

These are awesome. My girls, ages 13 & 16, absolutely love this meal and that says a lot as they can sometimes be picky. There are four of us and we always finish these and wish we had a little more remaining either to eat at dinner or for leftovers for a snack. I needs to start using about 2 pounds of meat rather than the 1.5 in the recipe.

With the exception of one change, I do follow the recipe as written. Instead of 1 tablespoon of chili powder I use 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder and 1/2 tablespoon of Spanish bittersweet smoked paprika. I haven't done them with the 1 T of chili powder but I am sure that they would be equally delish. I choose to use the smoked paprika because it has been one of my favorite spices lately. I use it in chili, fish & shrimp tacos, etc. Also, I always use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. I prefer the taste of thighs in general and almost always use them when using the slow cooker. So far when we've had these (3 times) I saute red peppers and red onions to have on them and we also serve with sour cream if desired. I do want to try them with the raw red onions and cilantro.

I've been using uncooked Tortilla Land flour tortillas ( http://www.tortillaland.com/Tortillas/Flour-Tortillas ). I cook these on the grill until they have a slightly crisp edge to them. Because of the size of the shells, the meal is actually closer to fajitas rather than tacos. I love corn tortillas from the grill also and will try the recipe with those.

Overall, a great recipe that I have shared with a few of my siblings and friends. Thanks for sharing.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.